When we shop around craft stores, it seems that their stocks appear all the same from no more than a handful of mass producers, making it extremely difficult to pick up the outstanding pieces, let alone finding the decently priced stuff.

But the proliferation of internet has certainly brought down the price barrier and make wider choice available to the masses.

Some of the most sought after suppliers in the art of jewelry making are:

I personally would think that every individual strand is worth more than its $1 price tag, sure I am happy for the price to stay that way! There will be times the site introduces new products, and again every new strand on sale is priced at a remarkable $1 pricing.

If you are looking for specific designs rather than the generic pattern beads, eBay could be a better place. Because of the huge collection at eBay, you need to key in specific search terms to find what your look for.

Say you want just Swarovski crystal beads, then in the search box, you should specifically type out “Swarovski crystal beads”, to make sure nothing other than Swarovski crystals would get displayed.

If you are diligent in sifting through the results, you may just come across a few that falls below retail price, especially if these items are from China sellers.

If shipping time is a concern, you should narrow down your search to just suppliers based in continental America. eBay is excellent when it comes to variety and exclusivity for beads.

Sometimes there could be less number of bids, especially if these concern the higher price bracket beads. So, you may just win outrageously expensive beads in the absence of intensified price war.

Another popular class of beads is Pandora beads. In general I pretty much find what I look for in charms and fimo beads from eBay without much problem, and the price I paid was not really a rip-off!

This is a useful site if you are looking for display and storage systems, a necessary feature if you sell your handcrafted jewelry at crafts fairs or even storefronts.

I routinely turn to this site prior to participating in the various craft show events. The price tags look decent and they also guarantee fast shipping at reasonable rate.

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Some like to call this the mother of all beading sites, and this accolade is not without its
merit! Whether you make jewelry for business or as a hobby, you can find anything and everything you ever needed for your jewelry craft here.

Free tutorials on designing jewelry, excellent customer service, all shipments regardless of size are charged $5 flat for shipping, and the easy user navigation all make Firemountain Gems the best website any jewelry artist can ever find.

Moreover, there is also the bulk purchase scheme! It is split into 4 discount tiers and the
discount goes steeper as you purchase more.

Other than that, you are also entitled to a free gift every time you order.

There is this opt in scheme where you can register to access all of the tutorials and
newsletters.

Don’t miss out of their free comprehensive jewelry-makers catalog. You can find interesting ideas, stunning photographs, and of course the full range of jewelry items on sales here.

Hobby Lobby is sort of like a good old fashion craft department store. It operates chain stores with footprint that spans across many states.

Its average store covers floor area that is substantially larger than usual craft supply stores, and it is easy to get lost inside the store itself.

It has an impressive collection of jewelry findings, but what I find even more interesting are the non-conventional crafting supplies that are outside of the jewelry aisle. These stuffs can be wonderful sources to make pendants, earrings, and other unique pieces.

For me, a trip down Hobby Lobby often provides inspiration to create my own new brand of jewelry craft by simply looking at these “alternative” supplies.

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